Why is your business called Cocoa Crayon?
It was January 2003 and New York was experiencing one heck of a cold, nasty winter. Needing to entertain my 2-year-old, but fearful of the frigid temperatures and gusty snowstorms, each afternoon when Maxine woke up from her nap we would zip over to nearby Café Bacio where we would sit, drink hot cocoa and color with crayons all afternoon. When my friend Jen Lavelle suggested thinking of meaningful words to create an unusual, but memorable business name Cocoa Crayon just felt right.

Do you have a storefront?
I don’t. My company headquarters began in my home office on New York's Upper East Side and has recently moved to Menlo Park, California.

Do you keep everything in stock or do you drop ship?
I try to keep everything in stock at all times and it works pretty well. In addition, I make a point of working with manufacturers who are able to ship merchandise quickly if I do run out of something. The only items that I drop ship are large furniture items.

Why don’t you have e-commerce on your website?
I started out small and always planned to have e-commerce someday, but my business has developed as a friendly, personal, always-able-to-help and fulfill special requests kind of place. I feel one loses this aspect with e-commerce and a shopping cart site. You can provide all of your order information in an e-mail or call if you prefer (see the Contact/Order page for what information is needed). If you aren’t comfortable e-mailing your credit card information I can always call you or you can call me with it.

Do I need to send you all my information each time I place an order?
No. Once you are a Cocoa Crayon customer your information is securely stored and you never need to give me your phone number, address, e-mail or credit card details again unless they should change.

Is it safe to e-mail my credit card information?
It depends who you ask. I feel comfortable e-mailing mine, but I respect that some people don’t. I am the only person who views the e-mail, listens to voice mail and processes orders so in that regard my business is “hacker safe”. Since my business began in 2003 I have never had any problems with fraud of any kind.

Why did you start your business?
I couldn’t help myself. In my pre-mommy life I was always the one in search of the coolest this or the hottest new that. In 1996 that passion turned into a career at Condé Nast Publications in London where, as an editor, I wrote about hot new stores, restaurants, vacation spots and accessories of every kind for various magazines. With the birth of my first daughter, Maxine, in 2001 that passion shifted gears towards the hottest new stuff for babies and young children. People would stop me on the street to ask where I got my stroller, diaper bag, blanket or hat. I also received some hideous gifts. I’m not the toile type I’m afraid. I figured we moms needed an on-line shop full of great stuff for kids and really hip grown-ups. The rest, of course, is history.